City of Toronto Shelters Shift 20% More Meals Plant-Based
The City of Toronto's Shelter and Support Services (TSSS) has committed to increasing their plant-based meal offerings by 260,000 meals!
In 2023, Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank kicked off a collaboration with Amy Symington and HSI Canada's Forward Food team, to bring their plant-based culinary trainings to the charitable sector and not-for-profit institutions.
And, in September (2023), we partnered with Toronto Shelter and Support Services to provide a plant-based culinary training for City-run shelter chefs from across Toronto!
Thanks to the incredible work of the Forward Food team, this February, TSSS signed the Forward Food Pledge, committing to increase their plant-based meal offerings by 20 per cent.
Back in December 2019, Veg Food Bank executive director Matt Noble and Amy met with the City's Toronto Food Strategy (TFS) team, to see if there was any way they could help the City with transitioning to serving more plant-based meals.
They even gave the Food Strategy team a copy of Amy's Long Table Cookbook!
TFS manager, Barbara Emanuel, had just advised the Toronto Board of Health to sign on to the World Resources Institute's Cool Food Pledge - to reduce food-related emissions by 25% by 2030.
And shortly after that Board of Health meeting, the Chief Medical Officer of Health signed the Cool Food Pledge and the City started working with the World Resources Institute!
In March (2020), a few months later, a global pandemic hit and the Food Strategy office (and even the Toronto Food Policy Council) were dissolved - with some former TFS staff continuing their food-focused work in other City Divisions.
But Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank is still here, keeping the momentum going, thanks to supporters like you!
And we're excited about the opportunities that the collaboration with TSSS could open up for us.
Now that Toronto Shelter and Support Services has signed on to HSI Canada’s Forward Food Pledge, our work continues, providing ongoing culinary trainings, and help with recipe and menu development - to make sure that when City shelters add new plant-based dishes that they are delicious, nutritious, cost-effective, and well received by their clients.
It's possible, with this 20 per cent increase in plant-based meals, that TSSS could meet, or even exceed, its 2030 Cool Food goal in the next few years.
And we’re hoping to work with other City divisions, like Seniors Services and Long-Term Care and Children’s Services, to increase our impact even further!
Stay tuned for updates about this collaboration, some potential spinoffs we're working on with TSSS, our food policy work, news about the food bank, and a big announcement coming later this year!
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